Paint rollers are known in the art for coating walls and other planar environmental surfaces with paint or another substance. Paint rollers of the prior art typically include a handle, such as that shown in FIG. 1, for example, and typically further include a substantially cylindrical sleeve (not shown) of substantially constant diameter at all points. The handle 10 typically includes a shank 12, which can be grasped by a user during painting, a rotatable mount 14 for receiving the substantially cylindrical sleeve, and an extension 16 securing the rotatable mount 14 to the shank 12.
Paint rollers of the prior art can be useful in applying paint or other substances to a planar environmental surface, such as a wall, because there is substantial surface-to-surface contact between the substantially cylindrical sleeve and the planar environmental surface. However, in comparison thereto, a curved environmental surface, such as a pipe, a pillar, etc, diminishes the effectiveness of a substantially cylindrical sleeve, because the surface-to-surface contact is diminished, thus requiring additional paint strokes, causing uneven application of the paint and requiring additional efforts of the user. What is needed in the art is a roller that overcomes these and other disadvantages.